After the CP cornucopia of cargo trains (see Hot Times on the CPR), I went south to the CN main line to see some more trains. I decided to head to Nattress on the east side of the Assiniboine River.
As I approached from the east, I saw the tail end of a westbound freight train. I wasn’t able to see the head end, but the distributed braking boxcar CN 0061 on the tail end made a decent photo at 09:32.
I wanted to get an eastbound train with some sun on the nose. It ended up being an hour wait before CN 3058 came around the bend at 10:40 AM.
It was a pretty generic freight train, but one of the tank cars caught my eye with its lack of a top valve.
LTCX 1606 contains liquid argon. It’s non-toxic, non-flammable… after all, we breathe it all the time. Argon is almost 1% of the atmosphere – the third most common element after nitrogen and oxygen. Update: Reader Jim sent me a link to this sales brochure on the Argon Tank Car SR-386. It’s a DOT-113 car suitable for argon or nitrogen.
I hit the road, chasing the train east toward Winnipeg. I managed to get to Elie before it and photographed it by the elevator at 11:10.
The chase was on again, and I beat it to mile 20 to photograph it against the blue sky at 11:29.
Only a few minutes later, CN 8017 came storming west at 11:36.
I liked the look of the red, white and black locomotives against the blue sky.
That was a wrap on a good morning of railfanning. Homeward!
Just One More Thing
I’ve added a few more images to my Redbubble portfolio, including a few VIA Rail trains. If you’re looking for gift ideas, check them out!
